Friday, September 28, 2007

TF2 is amazing, I wish it was on anything but steam. Admittedly that's the first time it's borked out since I've rejoined, but it brings back lots of memories of waiting for no reason. And the uncomfortableness of knowing you can't do anything about it apart from madly clicking refresh (even though it's illogical, it makes you feel better). This strikes at the heart of what I hated about CS too. Gaming is about personal enjoyment. I don't enjoy waiting for a round to end in PUGs where there is no real connection to the team winning or not. I don't enjoy the game forcing you to sit out even when the best strategy was to rush early. Games that take control away from you are BAD GAME DESIGN. There are some times you may relinquish control back to the computer, like finishing a level and sitting back to watch a cut scene, but if you are forced to do it then that's another thing entirely. Non-skippable cutscenes, non-autoacceptable quests, etc are agonizing for the repeat player.

Games are there to provide a framework for the player to partake in the game. The game should never EVER get in the way of what the player wants to do next. The success of this boils down to how natural the framework fits the task at hand as well as engaging the user to stay within the framework. Tetris has basic controls, basic game mechanics, but I've never wanted to throttle the game designer because I couldn't shoot a square or ask it a question. The framework and portrayal gives the user an environment to work within; to move & rotate shapes to make solid lines. I certainly do get frustrated with the game, but at myself for not thinking fast enough or placing a piece in an incorrect spot. That's the real difference, I'm blaming myself, not the game or the mechanics. Now if you had a tetris clone where you could only enter one keypress a second, or only rotate one way, etc. I world get mad at the controls because they do not let me do what I wanted to fulfil the requirements of the game.

So back to steam ....Does forcing me to "try later" impact on gameplay? I doubt they'll feel my deathstare back at Valve HQ, but it's made me play another game instead of waiting. I've put down lots better games than TF2 and never picked them up again because something else grabbed my attention. I'm sure I'm not alone in doing so, and I'm sure it will cost them in the long run.